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lawsuits such as [those concerning] murder.” 98 The Jews’ complaint implied that al-Jilālī was
specifically targeting Jews and denying them justice in the Makhzan court. Although this
probably concerned only lawsuits in which al-Jilālī judged directly, the sultan wrote to the qāḍī
of Demnat commanding him to be present at the settlement of this petition. 99 It seems the sultan
was concerned enough about the accusation to want as many trustworthy officials involved in its
resolution as possible.
In another instance the target of Jews’ complaints was the qāḍī himself—who, although
semi-independent, was nonetheless subject to the Makhzan’s supervision. In the summer of
1897 the Jews of Rabat protested against their qāḍī’s unwillingness to settle their cases. 100 The
nature of their complaint indicated that the qāḍī was transgressing jurisdictional boundaries.
Normally, a distinction was made between cases to be judged by the qāḍī in a sharī‘a court
(shar‘ī) from those which were to be judged by either a qā’id or a pasha in a Makhzan court
(makhzanī). It is unclear exactly how the qāḍī was violating “law and custom” (qānūn wa-‘urf),
though it seems that he had refused to adjudicate Jews’ lawsuits deemed to fall under his
jurisdiction. The petition indicates that Jews placed much stock in the right to obtain a just
ruling in a sharī‘a court, and that they were willing to appeal to the Makhzan when they believed
this right was threatened. 101
98
Tumkinuhum mimmā ‘asā ‘an yakūn lahum min al-ḥuqūqi fī da‘āwīhim al-qarībati al-faṣāl wa-ammā ghayruhā
min da‘āwīhim al-mutasha‘‘iba ka-da‘awāt al-dam. On faṣāl with the meaning of “settlement,” see Sinaceur,
Dictionnaire Colin, v. 6, 1468.
99
DAR, Demnat, Mawlāy Ḥasan to qāḍī of Demnat, 1 Sha‘bān 1302. For another incident in which Jews appealed
to the sultan about unfair judgment from their governor, see Mawlāy Ḥasan to Ḥammu b. al-Jīlālī, 29 Ṣafar 1302 (in
Ibn Zaydān, Al-‘Izz wa-’l-ṣawla, v. 2, 138).
100
DAR, Yahūd, 14885, Muḥammad al-Ṭūris to Muḥammad al-Swīsī, 6 Ṣafar 1315. This case eventually reached
al-Ṭūris, the Minister of Foreign Affairs; it is unclear whether the Jews wrote to him directly, or whether the case
was forwarded to him as the minister responsible for collective complaints of Jews.
101
For another case in which Jews complained about their qāḍī, see BH, K 181, p. 120, 22 Rajab 1309. Here the
Jews of Demnat accused their qāḍī of preventing them from using the services of ‘udūl when they came to notarize
their legal documents.
256